The finance minister has said Hungary is ploughing 20 percent of its GDP into protection efforts against the novel coronavirus.
After a meeting of the financial action group coordinating the financial response to the epidemic, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said some HUF 2,000 billion (EUR 5.5bn) will be used to set up three funds.
The HUF 633 billion protection fund against the epidemic will be funded by the contributions of banks, taxes paid by multinational companies and the monies reallocated by cutting all party subsidies by half.
The economy protection fund will receive HUF 1,345 billion, mainly from reallocations of ministries’ resources. A third fund will handle European Union resources. “This fund is currently empty — despite fake news [to the contrary], the EU is yet to support epidemic protection efforts,” Minister Varga said.
The government has so far spent HUF 380 billion on equipment, while the economy protection measures have left over HUF 3,000 billion with the Hungarian economy. That will enable the payment of 13th month pensions, wage compensation and tax and contribution cuts, the minister said.
A call center set up for advice on the coronavirus can be reached on +36-80-277-455 and +36-80-277-456 or by email koronavirus@bm.gov.hu